Twitter is a Social Networking and microblogging service, owned and operated by twitter inc., that enables its users to send and read other user’s messages called tweets. Tweets are text -based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by default, however senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.
Twitter's origins lie in a "daylong brainstorming session" that was held by board members of the podcasting company Odeo. During the meeting, Jack Dorsey introduced the idea of an individual using an SMS service to communicate with a small group, a concept partially inspired by the SMS group messaging service.
As a social network, Twitter revolves around the principle of followers. When you choose to follow another Twitter user, that user's tweets appear in reverse chronological order on your main Twitter page. If you follow 20 people, you'll see a mix of tweets scrolling down the page: breakfast-cereal updates, interesting new links, music recommendations, even musings on the future of education.
Criticism::The Wall Street Journal wrote that social-networking services such as Twitter "elicit mixed feelings in the technology-savvy people who have been their early adopters. Fans say they are a good way to keep in touch with busy friends. But some users are starting to feel 'too' connected, as they grapple with check-in messages at odd hours, higher cellphone bills and the need to tell acquaintances to stop announcing what they're having for dinner
For those of you who still wonder whether it’s anything more than inane stream-of-consciousness, consider these ways in which Twitter can help you professionally.
1. Make existing professional relationships stronger and more intimate. I know where Jane’s traveling this week and that Joe’s caught that flu going around. This makes them more human to me and it’s a decent substitute for meeting physically.
2. Get questions answered. Say you’re trying to put a plugin in your WordPress blog but it gives you errors. Tell your Twitter friends and someone might be able to help you. Now, you wouldn’t have emailed all those people to ask and you wouldn’t have instant messaged them either… but a broadcast message to those paying attention is a lightweight non-intrusive way to do it.
3. Expand your professional network. By paying attention to @ messages, you see who people you’re working with are working with. If the discussion is interesting enough, you might find someone you’d like to follow on Twitter… and eventually work with.
4. Promote your blog posts. I don’t tweet every time I post something, but sometimes if it’s one I’m especially proud of or one I want quick feedback on, I’ll post a tinyurl to it.
5. See what people are interested in. I just looked at my Twitter page and noticed that one of my friends is already trying out Grand Central. Now I know who to talk to to get an opinion on it.
6. Find out when your colleagues are available for a chat. Nobody wants to bother someone when they’re in the middle of an important project, but IM presence indicators aren’t totally reliable. On the other hand, if someone twitters that they’re “searching for something to do” you know it’s a good time to check in with them.
7. Create an ad hoc back channel at conferences. Though Twitter’s not ideal for this lacking as it is in temporary groups or any groups at all, I’ve seen it used effectively to bring together conference attendees and conference “watchers” — people who aren’t at the conference but would like to know what’s going on.
8. Learn important news. I’m much less dependent on my newsreader now because I hear about cool stuff all day via Twitter. For example: I didn’t know that Starbucks was giving away free coffee today until I read it on Twitter.
ROMA NIKUNJ PATEL
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